In an interview with Science Careers and in testimony to Congress yesterday, Veterans Affairs (VA) officials laid out more of the department’s plans to outsource its G.I. Bill operations. VA plans to build a computer system to determine G.I. Bill eligibility and benefits for veterans based on a series of rules spelled out in the legislation.
Science Careers has followed the new G.I. Bill since its debate in Congress this spring and reported on its potential impact on the scientific workforce. And as reported in earlier blog posts, veterans organizations and members of Congress had expressed skepticism over VA’s outsourcing plans
Keith Wilson, Director of Education Service in VA’s Veterans Benefit Administration told Science Careers that the motivations behind the new system are the rapid schedule for implementation and the department’s overall strategy to automate as much of its operations as possible. Wilson said that when the G.I. bill was signed on 30 June 2008, it set the enactment date as 1 August 2009, “just over a year” as he explained.
Wilson added that VA’s “current eligibility and mechanism cannot account for variables in the new program” and they could not modify the current system to meet the new requirements. Also, Wilson said, the department had already signaled its intention to automate these processes in its 2008 and 2009 budget submissions to Congress.
Keith Pedigo, Associate Deputy Under Secretary in VA’s Office of Policy and Program Management, told the U.S. House Veterans Affairs Committee yesterday that the contracting would be limited to the computer system and not the overall operations themselves. Pedigo told the committee …
It is important to understand that the contractor will not have full responsibility over the administration of the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Instead, the contractor will be responsible for development of the information technology (IT) solution, and general administrative or data entry functions. Claims that are rejected by the automated process and require a manual eligibility determination will remain the responsibility of trained VA personnel.
Wilson noted that the proposed system would be based on “accepted industry standards and best practices,” a point also made by Pedigo in his statement to the Committee. When asked if there was a current system in operation by a company or organization the department planned to use as a model, Wilson said there was no such system yet developed. He said that department intended to spell out the variables for bidders to consider, and let the companies come back with their best solutions.
Wilson referred questions about any cost-benefit analyses of the proposed system and whether the department would issue an open request for proposals to the department’s general counsel.
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